Exile on Mean Streets

Scorsese and Jagger revisit 1970s New York together in a new HBO series, Vinyl

You can tell Martin Scorsese is behind the new HBO drama series Vinyl from the
first 10 minutes of the pilot, which aren’t quite Goodfellas, but are
clearly “family”.

The record label boss Richie Finestra sits alone in his car after a Greenwich
Village cocaine deal and tries to quash his existential crisis with powder.
Just as he bottoms out, he hears the crackling throb of the New York Dolls
ripping up the Mercer Arts Center. He swoops, taking the camera on a
breathtaking travelling shot, deep into the heart of the gig — where he’s
transported back to the moment he first fell in love with music. You can
almost hear him say: “As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be in
rock’n’roll...”

Vinyl is, on one level, another great HBO drama. Indeed, as it’s packed with
Sex and the City’s New York, The Sopranos’ gangsters, The